1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a plating apparatus having a frame assembly for coating a strand of workpieces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The coating or plating of metal parts with zinc, nickel, and/or chromate material is known in the art. The coated metal parts have an improved appearance and are corrosion resistant. One common method for coating the parts is to manually mount the metal parts onto a rack and subsequently dip the entire rack, with the parts, into a series of baths. The baths can perform a number of functions including cleaning, rinsing, and drying the metal parts. One or more of the baths will also plate the metal parts with the desired material. This method is effective when the metal parts are easily installed and removed from the rack, i.e., the parts are relatively large.
Mounting small metal parts, such as nuts, to the rack is not practical. Hence, these small metal parts are typically coated or plated by using other methods. One such alternative method is to place the small metal parts into a barrel. The barrel can then be mounted to a rack and dipped in the baths. The barrel has a number of small openings to allow the intrusion of the materials into the barrel. The barrel is rotated such that the small metal parts tumble within the barrel and become coated with the material. The barrel method of coating small metal parts has a number of deficiencies. In particular, the barrel itself, which has a relatively large surface area, is coated along with the metal parts thereby wasting the coating material. The barrel is also relatively heavy and cumbersome to maneuver. In addition, the tumbling of the metal parts is undesirable in that some surface areas may not be coated, some of the metal parts may be damaged, and/or some of the material may chip off.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop a coating or plating apparatus that can effectively coat or plate small metal parts with a material while avoiding the deficiencies of the prior art outlined above.